The official 8tracks blog

“A total of 105,000 new full-length albums were released in 2008, a fourfold gain from the...

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:23:26 -0400

“A total of 105,000 new full-length albums were released in 2008, a fourfold gain from the earlier 2000s” (Digital Music News).

The rules

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:44:00 -0400

While included in our Terms of Service and communicated in various applicable areas of the website, there’s been some confusion about the “rules” on 8tracks. Generally, these are not rules we’ve decided on internally; rather, they are the requirements established by the US compulsory license for webcasting under which we (and other webcasters, like Last.fm, Pandora and Live365) operate.

The rules fall into 1 of 3 catagories:

Programming a mix
Describing a mix
Listening to a mix

Programming

Tracks must be distributed by the copyright holder
Tracks must be lawfully acquired
Tracks must include accurate metadata for the title, album and artist
Mix must contain at least 8 tracks
Mix must not contain more than 2 tracks from a given album or artist

Describing

Limited to 500 characters (based on feedback, we increased the 140-character limit previously in place)
Cannot include track titles
Cannot include more than 3 artist names

Listening

Cannot skip more than 2 tracks per hour on a given mix
Cannot listen to a given mix more than twice in an 8-hour period
Mix playback randomized after first listen

I’m happy to explain any of these in more detail. Please feel free to contact me at dp@8tracks.com on email or @8tracks on twitter.

Damn, browsing 8tracks using the Next mix button is fun (if I do say so myself).

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:39:52 -0400

Damn, browsing 8tracks using the Next mix button is fun (if I do say so myself).

Check out our new “next mix” feature — a fresh mix automatically plays when a...

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:39:52 -0400

Check out our new “next mix” feature — a fresh mix automatically plays when a prior one ends (or you can skip to it): http://bit.ly/BGUaW

Next mix

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:35:00 -0400

We just pushed what we think is an excellent new feature on 8tracks. Look to the right of the searchbox on any mixpage, and you’ll see a new link called “Next mix ->”.

If you’re listening to a mix and are ready for something new or different, you can click this link, and it’ll automatically open up a new, RANDOM mixpage on the 8tracks network — and instantly start playing it. It’s sort of like the “Next blog »” button on Blogger/Blogspot. Or a network-wide “mix skip” button.

In addition, when a given mix you’ve been listening to is finished, you now have the option to automatically jump to a new, random mix. We present you with a”lightbox” (as below) the first time ‘round, giving you the option to stay on the current mixpage or play the next mix (the latter is the default option, after a 10-second countdown).

If you’d like, you can choose to “Always take this action” so won’t have to pick an option at the end of each mix in the future. And this option can always be revised on our Settings page.

We’re pretty excited about the next mix feature. In the coming month or 2, we’ll introduce more intelligent selection of the next mix, i.e. based on tag match and social connections (though will probably retain the randomized selection as an option).

In addition, we’ll likely give DJs who subscribe to the forthcoming premium service a way to control this feature to create a “mix of mixes” — effectively, a channel that comprises their own mixes or other mixes they like.

As always, we’d love to hear your feedback.

More on rate announcement (TechCrunch): http://bit.ly/CHUI6

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:08:21 -0400

More on rate announcement (TechCrunch): http://bit.ly/CHUI6

The site will be down for 15 min — beginning in the next ~10 min — while we push a cool...

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:08:21 -0400

The site will be down for 15 min — beginning in the next ~10 min — while we push a cool new feature live. Will tell you more shortly.

There’s a few problems on the site (e.g. missing Edit link) after this push. We’re...

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:08:21 -0400

There’s a few problems on the site (e.g. missing Edit link) after this push. We’re getting these issues fixed and will push updates shortly.

Good summary of the new webcasting royalties from Rags (one of our advisors & my former...

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:49:25 -0400

Good summary of the new webcasting royalties from Rags (one of our advisors & my former colleague from Live365): http://bit.ly/kaXpX

Fantastic news! 8tracks & webcasting as an industry finally have a royalty that will support a...

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:12:53 -0400

Fantastic news! 8tracks & webcasting as an industry finally have a royalty that will support a viable business model: http://bit.ly/11YUPX

DJs, would you be interested in an option to create a “private mix” for another person,...

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:54:25 -0400

DJs, would you be interested in an option to create a “private mix” for another person, e.g. current — or prospective — girlfriend : ) ?

We just fixed last.fm scrobbling which had been disabled for the past 24 hours. Sorry guys.

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:08:50 -0400

We just fixed last.fm scrobbling which had been disabled for the past 24 hours. Sorry guys.

Aight, we really are only 62 mixes shy of 25k now!

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:48:00 -0400

Aight, we really *are* only 62 mixes shy of 25k now!

Scrobbling on the site is broken (just today). We’ll get it working again shortly.

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:47:53 -0400

Scrobbling on the site is broken (just today). We’ll get it working again shortly.

We’ve no wikipedia entry. Can someone sort that?

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:07:10 -0400

We’ve no wikipedia entry. Can someone sort that?

Aight, we’re one mix away from 25k. It’s 2.05am EST. Wait for it….

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:07:07 -0400

Aight, we’re one mix away from 25k. It’s 2.05am EST. Wait for it….

Pleased re 2 productive weeks on 8tracks, with Remi and Rich out visiting in NYC

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 13:38:32 -0400

Pleased re 2 productive weeks on 8tracks, with Remi and Rich out visiting in NYC

DJs: uploading tracks is now working reliably again! Now we’re going to get the 700 tracks...

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:28:39 -0400

DJs: uploading tracks is now working reliably again! Now we’re going to get the 700 tracks that failed uploading in the past 26 hours…

DJs: you may find that a few tracks you’ve uploaded to your mix are not playing. The files...

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:28:39 -0400

DJs: you may find that a few tracks you’ve uploaded to your mix are not playing. The files *have* been uploaded. and we’re on it.

The genre listings on 8tracks are the best. What is Tissue Core? RT @chadrushing Good question, but...

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:28:39 -0400

The genre listings on 8tracks are the best. What is Tissue Core? RT @chadrushing Good question, but I’m glad we got it : )